Just three months into his senior year, SUNY Oneonta Music Industry major Franklin Mastrangelo has signed a multi-album record deal with Mercury Records.
Mastrangelo, of Orient, NY, shared with his hometown newspaper, The Suffolk Times, that he will release music under the name Frank Mastra and plans to relocate to Nashville to pursue his music career full time.
The news reflects years of sustained practice, mentorship and hands-on learning, at SUNY Oneonta and long before. Mastrangelo credits “a very supportive and musical upbringing,” a steady willingness to put himself out there, and time alone inside Fine Arts practice rooms, where he often spent hours rehearsing at the piano.
“That’s what all the professors know me by,” Mastrangelo says. “I get people peeking in the window a lot and asking me what I’m playing. I’ll have classes with professors I’ve never spoken with before and they’ll be like, ‘I know who you are, you’re the kid who plays in the rehearsal rooms all the time!’”
While the record deal places him on a national stage, Mastrangelo says SUNY Oneonta helped shape the skills and discipline that led to this moment.
I visited the campus...and I met professors like Rob Roman and Jeremy Wall and was really inspired by the environment and the resources here...
“I’d always been eyeing this place,” he said. “I visited the campus and took a tour of the Fine Arts building, and I met professors like Rob Roman and Jeremy Wall and was really inspired by the environment and the resources here. Especially Studio A, a real professional grade studio, and that stood out right away. The resources are just infinite.”
Once on campus, Mastrangelo immersed himself fully in music, taking advantage of opportunities across performance, songwriting, and production.
“There’s so much to do in so little time,” he said. “I’ve been taking opportunity after opportunity. … I took drum lessons, I picked up banjo, a whole bunch of different things I never thought I could do. It’s really opened up my eyes.”
During his sophomore year and “through random connections throughout this whole Music Industry student body,” Mastrangelo and his classmates formed a band, The Pikes, after jamming together in a practice room and “hitting it off.” The band has performed at campus talent shows, off-campus venues and even more formal events like Academic Convocation. Mastrangelo also performs with multiple SUNY Oneonta ensembles, like Jazz Combo. He credits his coursework—particularly Jeremy Wall’s songwriting class—with helping him grow as a writer and collaborator.
“You get in a room with a bunch of other kids who are just as interested in songwriting and it’s an opportunity to bounce ideas off a professional and get feedback from classmates,” Mastrangelo said. “Jeremy Wall, whose name speaks for itself, has been really good to me, specifically. He’s been very nurturing, and he knows exactly how he wants something to sound or how he thinks something could sound if given a good push in the right direction.”
Beyond the classroom, Mastrangelo has balanced academics, Greek life as a member of fraternity Chi Phi, rehearsals and creative work. Between classes and performances, he began posting covers and original music to Instagram and TikTok. Last summer, several videos gained widespread attention, drawing interest from music industry professionals and producers from American Idol, who invited him to audition.
@frank.mastra_ You guys are awesome #soul #music #original ♬ original sound - Frank Mastra
@frank.mastra_ Gave up at the end #algreen #soul #music ♬ original sound - Frank Mastra
Those connections led to management representation and, ultimately, a call from Mercury Records.
This opportunity speaks to his undeniable talents, his indefatigable work ethic, and to the strengths of SUNY Oneonta’s music programs...
“We’re so excited for Frank,” said Joseph Michael Pignato, professor and chair of SUNY Oneonta’s Music Department. “This opportunity speaks to his undeniable talents, his indefatigable work ethic, and to the strengths of SUNY Oneonta’s music programs, which provide students like Frank with opportunities to engage in applied learning in performing music, in songwriting, in audio production, and in music industry.”
Hi, my name is Franklin Mastrangelo. I am a music industry major at SUNY Oneonta.
When I got here first, I remember immediately being immersed in, in all things music. And I finally had a chance to focus on that and have some, you know, I had some spare time. I took drum lessons, I picked up banjo. I did, you know, a whole bunch of different things that I never would have thought I could do. And it's really opened up my my eyes and my opportunities.
I've been banging pots and pans since I was born. I wrote my first song when I was three years old and my first performance when I was three years old.
I was really inspired by the environment and the resources here. Like I would have never had that opportunity had I not come here to to learn about music.
Hopes and dreams are to make a living being a professional musician. As long as I'm playing my music to some degree and people are listening to me, then, then I'll be all right.